Vol. 8, Issue 1 -------------------------------------------------------- U.S. Prison Crisis
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U.S. Prison Crisis
Compelling Data:
Since 1990 the number of women in America's jails and prisons has tripled, while the number of men has doubled. The outlook is bleak since the latest research suggests that 14 million people in this country will spend at least some of their lives behind bars and that a growing percentage will be women.
According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics:
- About 3 million women are arrested each year, and there are almost 1 million
held in custody.
- More than 1.3 million children under age 18 have mothers who are involved with the criminal justice system, including about 250,000 whose mothers are in prison.
- Women offenders are victims themselves. Nearly 60% of women in state prisons reported being physically or sexually abused at some point in their lives. About
one-third were abused by an intimate or family member.
- A large percentage, 80% to 90% of women are incarcerated for drug violations.
Sadly, women have been caught up in mandatory sentencing designed to deal with both the war on drugs and the problem of male violence.
Caring for the Children:
Of the women in prison nationally, 66% to 80% are mothers of children under 18 years of age. The majority of these mothers were the primary caretakers of their children prior to their imprisonment. These children are at greater risk of pursuing behavior consistent with that of their parents thus maintaining the cycle of drug dependency and eventual incarceration.
Runaways:
Nationally, one out of every four juvenile arrestees is a girl and girls are less likely than boys to be arrested for violent offenses or serious property crimes. Offenses such as truancy, running away, and other minor problems with the law based largely on age play a significant role in girls' arrests. Running away, often a symptom of serious family problems, is a leading factor in girls' arrests. Many girls have serious emotional problems and struggle with low self esteem.
The Solution to Recidivism:
According to the professionals the recidivism rate remains largely unchanged - around 70% or higher. One answer to reducing the failure of the system, a system primarily developed for men, are programs designed to meet the needs of women. Men and women are different and the National Institute of Corrections determined that women offenders need to be evaluated from the perspective of what we know of them as people - instead of merely applying the same classification criteria used for men.
Our Involvement the Issue:
To provide women inmates with a well constructed chance to make the journey back from a number to a name we are participating in several programs.
- Curriculum on Goal Setting
Weekly instruction on developing a Life Plan addressing four important areas; job, money, leisure and support are taught by our staff at several facilities. This program helps inmates understand important issues related to their release from prison and assists them in setting goals that will help them live productive lives.
- Basic Life Skills Training Classes are being conducted at the Juvenile Facility.
Our goal is to provide mentoring and role modeling to adolescents.
Teaching techniques designed to improve and correct behavior include role playing, lectures and small group interaction.
- Books to enhance the scope and quality of reading material were donated to the prison library.
Subjects included self help, self esteem, successful living, finances and parenting.
- We presented testimony to the State House of Representatives lobbying for a bill that codified parity in prison programming for females.
Our vision and commitment to women inmates is to help them to re-focus and concentrate not on how to get out of prison but rather how to stay out of prison!
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Copyright © 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 by A Woman's Voice, International.
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